City in the Sky, an imaginary oasis above the city

The concept

‘City in the sky’ is a concept about an imaginary tranquil oasis above the mega-developed and polluted city, where
one can escape from the everyday noise and stress. It was developed as part of the ‘Megatropolis’ project, which
started in London with few companies and artists, invited to create their own visions for the future mega-developed
city. The metropolis depicted in the video is New York City because that’s where most of the production happened.
While the overall ‘Megatropolis’ project didn’t reach a final stage, the presented concept grew into this architectural
utopia.

Although it is realistically presented, the concept doesn’t intend to be realistic in terms of structure-engineering
or real living environment. It is an artistic impression of a tranquil hideaway from the rush of everyday life. For the
time I’ve lived in big cities I’ve noticed a longing in people’s hearts for a connection with the nature and the wide-open,
clear skies. So I thought a garden in the sky would be something fascinating for people to see, imagine and experience.
In modern life, man is rushing with the current of success and progress but somewhere deep has the desire for a quieter
reality, that seems increasingly further away. “City in the Sky” reminds of the romantic connection with the heaven,
tranquility and nature, even in the heart of vast metropolises like New York City.

Inspiration

The design was inspired by the Lotus flower, known for its ability to grow above the murky waters, pure and clean.
It is able to remain untainted by the mud through its self-cleaning abilities. In the eastern culture the Lotus flower
often symbolizes the ability to rise above the worries and troubles of everyday life, bringing light and life in the
hardest of times and places. Because of this it has been a subject of inspiration to many artists. My personal
understanding of this symbol came after getting familiar with the concept of self cultivation, which is not much
known in the western world.

A haiku-poem by the Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa beautifully conveys this message:

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One translation of the poem is:

this world
full of needles and thorns …
yet lotus blooms

—

Original music by Georgi Marinov. Sound design and SFX were added after the video was produced. This transformed
the perception of the work tremendously. It is amazing to see that transformation. It really gives the fifth dimension
to the work since the sound-designer can have his own input in his own creative ways! We did this in our spare time and
it was a great learning experience.

The Golden Dragon in the last image was rendered by the sketches and with the exclusive help of Daxiong.
Some original sketches by the King of comics coming soon!!!

Rendered with 3DSMAX and VRay, Post & VFX in After Effects, some footage and time-lapses shot with
Canon5D MKII in New York City. The ending frame was composited out of a time-lapse shot taken from the
roof of the Empire State building in New York. It was cut in planes and multiplied many times in
3D space so you might spot repeated buildings here and there.
Well this makes the MegaTropolis even MultiMegaTropolis.